Introduction
In todays society, nature, has changed quite significantly since the time of colonization. It has played a large role in the development of this Nation and more specifically its literature over the 400 years. Over the past decade or so nature has become a popular topic of discussion. It is becoming such a key factor in the well being of human nature. This has lead me to investigate more in this topic, ultimately to see understand how it shaped our society. From surveys and interviews that i conducted I was able to assess a wide variety of how people regard nature in todays society. I found that generally people care about the world they live on, but dont really spend much time doing anything to better nature. It was apparent that some people were willing to do much more than others by doing things such as: recycling, using clean and efficient energy or volunteering in local national park groups that clean up the park as well as planting new things. In the following passages the reader will be taken through World history as well as America's history. The main focus of this webpage is to view how literature has been influenced by American culture over time. It will start off with the creations stories and how they set the underlying view on how nature should be treated and used. Then the passages will jump forward in time and follow the founding fathers of America. It will then recapitulate the rise of large society and its views, and then finally ends up back to modern civilization. My goal is to enlighten the reader on the roots of American literature and how it developed into the phenomena that it is today.
Nature in my life Until recently Nature didn't play a big role in my life, however after i went on a nature walk with my class my opinion on nature changed. I do appreciate what it does for me. It gives me fresh water to drink, good air to breathe and food to eat. My generation is the one that is going to have to deal with the worst of the pollution dilemma, and I believe that here at school we have been doing a good job of being environmentally friendly. I believe that nature is taken for granted in this modern age. The pollution is killing the little nature that is left, and we can’t survive without nature. However we have been doing a better job of being “green.” Some people really care about the nature and take time to admire it. Some of the most beautiful sights to see are made by nature: snow covered mountain peaks, brilliant sunsets, endless seas of green hills, wildlife, deep think jungles. The list goes on and on. But those are the things that make nature so great. It provides us with the basic necessities for life. Unfortunately people disregard the importance of taking care of what little “natural” nature we have left. This goes without saying that not every person is like this, there are those preservationists that work very hard in promoting this importance that we lack understanding of. Nature can be a fascinating thing if it is truly appreciated. I have had the opportunities to travel and see the world from many different points of views. Over time, my view on nature changed for the better, I have a detailed opinion on why nature is important in my life now.
Nature Walk
Our nature walk opened my closed eyes and made them invisible. I remember a very specific moment where the world seemed to have stopped along with everything that lived on it except for me, i felt invisible. I was at a view point at the summit of the mountain and as i gazed down into the valley full of reds, greens, browns and yellows my mind seemed to slip away into the blend of nature. I asked myself, if i were truly here and seeing this beautiful sight made it seem like a dream. I could imagine a time lapse coursing over my head in the sky and all around me, with everything that had previously lived here and
called this land home. Realizing just how long this land has been here and all the wisdom that it has gathered up over the years blew me away, this was the first time that i really appreciated the world. During out chat we discussed the reoccurring theme of Nature vs. Wilderness and i came to the conclusion that wilderness can be found in almost everything. Take for example a wood table. It most likely has a veneer and many layers of paint, but underneath is the oak or the maplewood, in its true nature. Although that wood is not living no more and has been handled by man, it still doesn't take away its identity. Wilderness is a part of life that cant be ignored and pushed to the side, places like the ones we hiked need to be experienced by everyone.
How society views nature vs. How nature should be viewed/used
Our society view nature as a endless pit of resources and opportunities. Nature is used in pretty much every aspect of our lives. We take its natural resources to produce unlimited amount of goods and to expand our population over the face of the earth. Nature is a full on, absolute necessity for survival. This brings up a question that we have been asking ourselves for a long time; what should we use, and what should we save? This argument is unfolded in the Chapter "T he River." In this chapter the two sides of the argument, conservationist and preservationist; respectively Dominy and Brower. They have two totally different ideas and have a mighty clash in a debate on whether or not to build a dam. This projects the general argument that people fight over several things involving nature and how it should be used. I believe that there needs to be a balance between Dominy's and Brower's ideas, which they find. something in the middle of their ideas would be the best possible method to use nature. The other chapter that we read, The Idea of a Garden, also illustrates thisargument. In a small town a strong storm comes through and blows away a very beautiful and cherished forrest of pines. This was a sort of park that the inhabitants used on a regular basis and enjoy very much. Unfortunately this storm destroyed all the trees and left the park in ruins. The argument comes about when the town and Nature Conservatory fight over what they should do about the disaster. One option would be to let the forrest grow back untouched in its natural way and the other way would be to clean it up and replant new trees. The point that this brings up is humans think its more important to manipulate nature for our own benefit regardless of how mother nature is affected. The two sides go on to dispute the argument and in the end they decide to replant a part of the forrest to what it used to look like, and the rest of the forrest got cleaned up and allowed to grow back in its own way.
Where did we all Begin?
In all three creation stories; Genesis, The Iroquois and Prima all have different ideas
This is what i see the Iroquois story as...
and usage for nature due to the difference in culture and land surrounding their society.
The Genesis Creation Story
Genesis is perhaps the most well known story in the western civilization. It is the story of the almighty God who creates man in his image with the idea that since he is perfect, humans will be so too. He says to them, "Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." In my view this implies that God is saying humans are "allowed" to do what they please with nature, at least that is what modern society interprets it as.This can cause problems because it is very hard for humans to put limits on things that are necessary for life.
The Pima Creation Story
Prima on the other hand has a very different point of view on the creation of the world than Genesis.The Doctor of the Earth, Juhwertamahkai, is the only thing in the whole universe and he created everything that exists now. This creation story is very interesting because it raises the point that humans are no where near perfect or worthy of Earth/Nature. This is evident because Juhwertamahkai lets the sky fall four times to kill all the humans because of their defaults. This hints to the point that nature is something that needs to be respected and that only responsible "beings" are capable of managing it.
The Iroquois Creation Story
The Iroquois have a maternal based creation story. The world is created by twins which the female spirit bore. One twin is a good spirit and the other a bad spirit. They go into the worldand fill it with all the goods and evils of the world. The evils can be interpreted as obstacles or warnings put in place to stop the humans from exploiting the nature for its resources. The good creates everything that can be utilized for survival. Both spirits get into a rough fight with the good coming out victorious. However evil wasn't destroyed, it went into hiding. This foreshadows that one day when humans become out of control, evil will rise up again and create balance. This creation story supports the notion that nature is something that has to be dealt with cautiously and with care.
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather was a puritan, and one of the first writers to publish his works in english. His work was based on the corruption that nature and wilderness that influenced a very religious population. Cotton Mather, amongst many others, blamed the evil and mysteriousness of nature for unexplainable deaths and disasters. He wrote "the Wonders of an Invisible World" in defense of his witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. At the start of the book he states, "A people of God in the Devil's territories." This can be tied to nature in the sense of Nature vs. Wilderness and how one is viewed as good and the other as evil. A large
Cotton Mather
population of witches were thought to have lived in Salem, so it was a sort of bloody battlefield between the Devil and God. This territory was considered Evil because it was a new land that nobody understood; wilderness. When drastic, unexplainable events occurred people would blame the Devil and his Witches. The people were very scared when things like this happened so what did they do? They tried to bring it back to the norm; civilized world. First they would let the witch go on trial to see if she really was a witch, and was most likely guilty. After that they would burn the witch until she died. This can be viewed as people trying to convert Wilderness; unknown world, to Nature; the civilized society where everything is perfect. Benjamin Franklin was influenced greatly by Mather and wrote on what nature meant to him. Other writers such as Crevecoeur and Thomas Jefferson concentrated on a different aspect of nature and wilderness; one that is more closely tied with society and natural resources.
Crevecoeur: Letters From an American Farmer
It is made clear that Crevecoeur strongly believes that man and nature are equal and must work together to survive. It is made evident that Crevecoeur has a strong opinion on Nature and the role it plays in society. His publishings dealt with nature and society. Letters From an American Farmer is written from a farmers perspective on nature and how it helps him with his farming, but it does not just apply to farmers. Crevecoeur wrote this with the intension to
Crevecoeur
influence every american living in America at that time. "Here (America) the rewards of his industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor; the labor is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest..." Here Crevecoeur implies that nature directly provides us with work; or a purpose. Man and Nature are directly related through this link of coexistence. He also starts to pull away from religion being involved in nature. By this point in history man is no longer 100% dependent on religion to provide us with answers. We can see this trend start to form, beginning from Genesis to Cotton Mather and now to Crevecoeur. As time goes on religion becomes more distant from nature.
Jefferson's notes on Virginia
Thomas Jefferson based his opinion on nature off of how it can be used to build a new nation. His notes touch base on everything that makes up the society in Virginia and beyond it. He talks about everything that he is surrounded by and writes down multiple uses for that specific thing. For example, when Jefferson saw a river he saw a possible mode of transportation that would boost the New Worlds trade or take people on cross country travels. His 2nd Query talks about rives, their importance and various specific details on size. One thing can be understood fro sure from this Query and it is, rivers are the
Thomas Jefferson
future in commerce for that time era. He mentions that the Mississippi has perhaps alone will provide most of the transportation of this commerce, flowing all the way from the Ohio river down to the Mississippi delta in New Orleans. Here again we can see that Nature and man go hand in hand and the proper use of nature will be both profitable for man and mother-nature.
Query number 12 is about counties and townships. He says that America has no towns. "There are other places at which, like some of the foregoing, the laws have said there shall be towns; but nature has said there shall not, and they remain unworthy of enumeration." Dueto all the rivers that provide trade to be fairly easily delivered from place to place, townships were not needed. Therefore nature wont allow it.
Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America by Benjamin Franklin
In Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America by Benjamin Franklin, Franklin expresses his view on nature through social behavior and how to maximize production by using nature efficiently. He criticizes people for their misjudgment of different customs and rituals, calling them misinformed. Every society has some good and bad; polite and rude; clean and dirty. This concerns most Americans because at that time
Benjamin Franklin
Americans were the victimes, being called savages by the British. However Franklin makes the point that Americans are often more civilized than the British, making the British people misinformed. The same is true for Native Americans, which were considered savages by Americans during his time period for the exact same reason British people thought Americans were savages. The lack of knowledge that Americans had about native american culture created a hatred towards them because they didn't act like we did. However that does not mean that they were not polite or civil, in fact Franklin points out that indians might have been more polite than Americans at that time. The main point Franklin was trying to convey is Americans shouldn't view Natives any less than their "neighbor".
I would tie this to nature with the same juxtaposition: civilized vs. savage as nature vs. wilderness. Often times wilderness is feared because it is usually unknown. An example of this would be the difference between a tamed cat versus a wild cat. People might be scared of a wild cat because they act differently than house cats. Wild cats can be very protective of their territories and shouldn't be messedwith. Whereas a house cat is very friendly and usually wont hurt humans. This fear is a lack of knowledge or prejudice people hold against other things that are new to them. Nature and wilderness carry the same background but have different ways of "acting". Both should be respected and taken care of so that in return Nature and Wilderness will benefit us forever.
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American writer of the early 19th century. He is best known for his stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hallow. Irving's mystic use of nature in both works bring a new edge to the table of Nature in American literature. In Rip Van Winkle there are a couple supernatural phenomenas, the Gnome and being able to sleep for 20 years. Nature is depicted as a magical area where strange this happen. This is apparent in the Legend of Sleepy Hallow, where nature radiates an eerie setting. There is a factor of "the unknown" that the setting sets off. Irving uses very descriptive and gloomy adjectives to create the scary setting.
Rip Van Winkle
The story of Rip Van Winkle tells the tale of a man named Rip and his love for the forrest and nature. He lives in the colonial time before the American Revolutionary War, in New York. He has his own family consisting of a wife and children. Rip lives on a farm but he seldom takes care of it. He prefers to spend his days frolicking in thewoods and spending time with the children of the town. Rip is loved by all except for his wife who is strongly cross with him because he never does the work to support his family. One day Rip takes a long walk in the woods with his dog and crosses path with a gnome. This gnome
Washington Irving
is caring a large barrel of alcohol that is spiked with a special magical potion. This concoction puts Rip into a 20 year long sleep. When he wakes up he finds that everything has changed. This is a glimpse of one of Irving's mysticism being sewn into nature. Having gnomes come to you in the woods and offer you a magical concoction of alcohol that will put you to sleep for 20 years is pretty mystical. This is a reoccurring theme that can be found in Irvings later works such as "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow".
The Legend of Sleepy Hallow
This story is very well known and is still read in todays literature classes. It was even made into a Scooby-Doo episode, The Headless Horseman. Irving uses this Nature Vs. Mysticism theme again in this story with the use of a man who's head was replaced by a pumpkin. This taken to the next level in Scooby-Doo. The opening scene of the episode projects avery spooky ambience that mirrors Irving's writing. The mysticism is created by the fog that is almost always around whenever the gang is in trouble or in a scary scene. Again this mirrors Irving's mystic writing. However this mysticism is projected through nature. Nature being the gateway between supernatural and natural.
Scooby doooby doooooooooo, where are youuuuuuuu!!!!
Emerson Nature Essays
Emerson's essay nature projects his view on nature and man. His view on nature is very similar to that of Crevecoeur in the sense that both believed that nature should be respected and observed without man altering natures course, for good or bad. However Emerson had a very strong inner spiritual belief when it comes to understanding nature. The other big difference between himself and Crevecoeur is he writes from a poet's point of view, not a farmers. One of my favorite quotes from his essay is, "distinguished the stick of timber of the wood-cutter from the tree of the poet." This quote really gives a good sense of how Emerson views nature. He sees everything for what it really is, this is what makes his writing so true. I think Emerson's writing is very artsy. He uses a lot of figures of speech to make his pictures created by words very vivid in the readers mind. I believe that his way of writing about nature is the best way to write about it because nature is so
Emerson
abstract and intricate, abstract and intricate writing is needed to fully describe natures beauty. The other main point that i took out of his essay is Emerson believes that man is a part of nature rather than a standby viewer. When in nature he lets himself go completely, "I become a transparent eyeball; i am nothing; i see all." This really elaborates on the true meaning of seeing nature. In nature one must let themselves evaporate.
Huckleberry Finn
Nature plays a very important role in the adventures of Huck Finn. Huck and Jim's journey takes them down the Mississippi River flowing towards the southern states. For them the river is the ultimate symbol of freedom and the raft forms some sort of sanctuary from the dangers of the outside world. Being a metaphor for freedom; in Jim'scase the raft is bringing him closer to his freedom from slavery, while on the other hand it is taking Huck farther away from his crazy father and civilized society. As thestory progresses it is made clear that the river and raft are no longer the perfect utopia that they imagined it as. This realization occurs when the dangers of nature and the outside world present themselves on the river, things like: fogcausing Huck and Jim to miss the mouth of the Ohio river which was their planned route, or the river overflowing causing them to run into criminals and ship wrecks. So now instead of being a safe zone, the river and raft become ways to escape from the dangers that are forced unto Huck and Jim. A great example of this is when Huck and Jim are separated from each other due to the intense fog and Huck's immature sense of humor. While Jim stays near the shore of the river, Huck is involved in a potentially fatal family feud on land. When Huck decides that he's had enough of the violence he runs away meeting up with Jim, and escapes on the raft. The river went from being a safe zone to being a source of risk that puts their lives in jeopardy, making almost no where a safe place for Jim and Huck. However, the raft still remains a reliable emergency escape when things get sticky on dry land. Without the help of nature, the river, Huck and Jim would have faced an impossible feat that would have certainly led to their capture and death.
Maggie: a Girl of the Streets
The Urban Wilderness that is represented in this book reflects on the society that Maggie struggles to live in. This society lacks a sense of morals, rules and hygiene, what we would consider to be the essentials for a prosperous community. The author of the book, Stephen Crane represents the New York that he grew up in, which was full of poverty stricken people, hypocrisy and corruption. Crane depicts a very harsh image in our minds right from the start of the book with a gang fight involving ten year olds. This takes place in what they call, the Rum Alley and Devils Row, which is the center of Wilderness in New York. These little kids are acting like wild beasts and are stoning each other, many of the fights end up in blood shed or loss of teeth. As time goes on the main character Jimmie and Maggie grow up and enter the adult world, which when juxtaposed with their childhood isn't too different. Jimmie's life takes a turn for the worse and views the world as if everyone hates him. He becomes a driver and transports goods for factories and food markets. This opens the door to a very intense and suspenseful life because he has to deal with the police on several occasions. Also, adding to the wilderness and danger of the urban city, Jimmie often times does not care for pedestrians and if they're in his way he wont hesitate to run them over. On the other hand, due to social circumstances and a lifetime of abuse is forced into a fake love with a man named Pete. Pete is the start of the end of Maggie's life. At home she is not loved and her drunk mother believes that she isn't earning enough money for the family. When she meets Pete she quickly latches on to the idea that Pete has money and he could possibly be her way out of poverty. Instead Pete soon betrays her and leaves her for another woman. Through out the book Maggie is told to go to hell by several people including Jimmie, her mother and Pete. Maggie has no where to go and ends up turning into a girl of the streets. While on the streets she encounters the true urban wilderness, forced to do disgusting and shameful things. The last time we hear of Maggie is while she is walking alone on the river bank and is followed by a fat disgusting man. We are not told directly that she meets her fate that night, but it is safe to assume so because the next time she is mentioned it talks about her death. All of this fits into Wilderness because of the danger aspect that the society poses, just like wild animals and nature pose dangers in nature wilderness. These two wilderness are not very different in the danger they pose, however the setting also creates a huge difference in the type of danger that it poses. The urban jungle is more of a social danger because you have to worry about other crazy people that might follow you home one night and stab you. This wilderness has a mystic feeling to it which creates a doubt in peoples minds while surrounded by any type of wilderness. New York city is a perfect example of Urban Wilderness, and the society that encompasses it is a perfect concoction for disaster.
The World Fair 1893
The Chicago world fair of 1893 was a modern marvel of its time, it surpassed the preceding world fair in france in size, beauty and technological mechanisms. Holmstead, the designer of the park and its buildings, defied nature by building all of these grand constructions in such a limited time. Taking into account the land that the fair was built on, a swamp, the foundation for all of the building were not ideal at all and put everything in jeopardy of collapsing. However, Holmstead managed to create a peaceful and beautiful setting with lagoons, trees and the Michigan Lake right beside it. The Urban Wilderness can be seen in the fair itself by all the crude entertainment, the beer halls, exotic dancing, drugs and the whole carnival feeling to it. At the time Chicago was the center of money making and corruption and the main source of profit were the sexual and drug related attractions. Things like prostitution and drugs are seen everywhere you go and is largely located in the grimy slums of the inner city. The magnitude of the city added to the chaos, along with the 300,000 people who attended daily. The nature was was not able to appreciated due to all this commotion and there were very few places where "quite" was available. The large buildings were styled to look something like ancient rome and their beauty was astonishing. However, they were not built to last, they were mainly built out of wooden frames, iron beams and staff; a material that looked like marble. Overall the fair was a great success, showing the world that the US was able to compete with the other superpowers of the world, it was a place where people from all over the world could come together and enjoy many great luxuries and different cultures.
The Great Gatsby
This novel revolves around social injustices and peoples lack of morality in contrast to Nick's view on the world. Nick, the main protagonist, is surrounded by a very different environment than hes used to. The people who live near Nick lack in several of the qualities that he values
quite highly. In a way he is trapped in a social wilderness, a collective pit of social injustice and dishonorable people. Nick being from the mid-west feels uncomfortable and out of place living in the extravagant east coast. Usually Wilderness is seen as a tropical forrest or something that hasn't been touched by mankind. A sense of fear and confusion is tied to the wilderness' identity and this carries on into Great Gatsby. Through this Social Wilderness that is created by Nick's perfectly unbiased judgment, fear and confusion eventually force him to leave West egg and return home; his comfort zone. The valley of ashes and East/West Eggs islands are important places that symbolizethe creation and solution of all the injustices that occur throughout the novel. The Valley of ashes is the breeding ground for immorality, where things like Daisy killing her husbands lover, a night of binge drinking, or where Tom goes to take care of his affaires with other women. On the other hand, West and East egg act as a sanctuary for all the rich people that instigate or even commit the crimes. On the Egg islands the endless amount of money acts as a cushion, shielding the rich people from ever getting into trouble. Of course the worst thing that came of the Valley of ashes was the innocent death of Gatsby. This was the last straw for Nick and when he had enough of all the immoralities and backstabbing people he finally decided to leave. Sometimes Wilderness can be found in other places rather than just in nature.
Koyaanisqatsi
This movies attempts to reveal the truth behind the artificial world that we live in. Our world has become highly dependent on technology which creates a layer of commodities that blocks out nature. Each new scene in the movie unfolded a new truth and revealed a new perspective on every day commodities. However, it shows that everything that makes life better and easier is actually pulling our society farther and farther from the original, nature itself. The word Koyaanisqatsi means life out of balance, and i think that this movie really showsthe world and society are truly out of balance. While i was watching it, i felt as if many of the things looked too crammed and too fake. The huge clusters of people moving in and out of subways, billions of cars inching along in New York, were some of the things that stuck out to me most. I believe i remembered these scenes the most is because they portrayed the cage or layer of commodities we have enclosed ourselves in. It really allowed me to see the difference between civilization and wilderness, true wilderness. It showed the origins of Wilderness, but at the same time it portrayed society and everything that is not wilderness; layers of commodities that divorced us from nature
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LUCAS NATURE PAGE
Introduction
In todays society, nature, has changed quite significantly since the time of colonization. It has played a large role in the development of this Nation and more specifically its literature over the 400 years. Over the past decade or so nature has become a popular topic of discussion. It is becoming such a key factor in the well being of human nature. This has lead me to investigate more in this topic, ultimately to see understand how it shaped our society. From surveys and interviews that i conducted I was able to assess a wide variety of how people regard nature in todays society. I found that generally people care about the world they live on, but dont really spend much time doing anything to better nature. It was apparent that some people were willing to do much more than others by doing things such as: recycling, using clean and efficient energy or volunteering in local national park groups that clean up the park as well as planting new things. In the following passages the reader will be taken through World history as well as America's history. The main focus of this webpage is to view how literature has been influenced by American culture over time. It will start off with the creations stories and how they set the underlying view on how nature should be treated and used. Then the passages will jump forward in time and follow the founding fathers of America. It will then recapitulate the rise of large society and its views, and then finally ends up back to modern civilization. My goal is to enlighten the reader on the roots of American literature and how it developed into the phenomena that it is today.
Nature in my life
Until recently Nature didn't play a big role in my life, however after i went on a nature walk with my class my opinion on nature changed. I do appreciate what it does for me. It gives me fresh water to drink, good air to breathe and food to eat. My generation is the one that is going to have to deal with the worst of the pollution dilemma, and I believe that here at school we have been doing a good job of being environmentally friendly. I believe that nature is taken for granted in this modern age. The pollution is killing the little nature that is left, and we can’t survive without nature. However we have been doing a better job of being “green.” Some people really care about the nature and take time to admire it. Some of the most beautiful sights to see are made by nature: snow covered mountain peaks, brilliant sunsets, endless seas of green hills, wildlife, deep think jungles. The list goes on and on. But those are the things that make nature so great. It provides us with the basic necessities for life. Unfortunately people disregard the importance of taking care of what little “natural” nature we have left. This goes without saying that not every person is like this, there are those preservationists that work very hard in promoting this importance that we lack understanding of. Nature can be a fascinating thing if it is truly appreciated. I have had the opportunities to travel and see the world from many different points of views. Over time, my view on nature changed for the better, I have a detailed opinion on why nature is important in my life now.
Nature Walk
Our nature walk opened my closed eyes and made them invisible. I remember a very specific moment where the world seemed to have stopped along with everything that lived on it except for me, i felt invisible. I was at a view point at the summit of the mountain and as i gazed down into the valley full of reds, greens, browns and yellows my mind seemed to slip away into the blend of nature. I asked myself, if i were truly here and seeing this beautiful sight made it seem like a dream. I could imagine a time lapse coursing over my head in the sky and all around me, with everything that had previously lived here and
called this land home. Realizing just how long this land has been here and all the wisdom that it has gathered up over the years blew me away, this was the first time that i really appreciated the world. During out chat we discussed the reoccurring theme of Nature vs. Wilderness and i came to the conclusion that wilderness can be found in almost everything. Take for example a wood table. It most likely has a veneer and many layers of paint, but underneath is the oak or the maplewood, in its true nature. Although that wood is not living no more and has been handled by man, it still doesn't take away its identity. Wilderness is a part of life that cant be ignored and pushed to the side, places like the ones we hiked need to be experienced by everyone.
How society views nature vs. How nature should be viewed/used
Our society view nature as a endless pit of resources and opportunities. Nature is used in pretty much every aspect of our lives. We take its natural resources to produce unlimited amount of goods and to expand our population over the face of the earth. Nature is a full on, absolute necessity for survival. This brings up a question that we have been asking ourselves for a long time; what should we use, and what should we save? This argument is unfolded in the Chapter "T
Where did we all Begin?
In all three creation stories; Genesis, The Iroquois and Prima all have different ideas
and usage for nature due to the difference in culture and land surrounding their society.
- The Genesis Creation Story
Genesis is perhaps the most well known story in the western civilization. It is the story of the almighty God who creates man in his image with the idea that since he is perfect, humans will be so too. He says to them, "Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." In my view this implies that God is saying humans are "allowed" to do what they please with nature, at least that is what modern society interprets it as.This can cause problems because it is very hard for humans to put limits on things that are necessary for life.- The Pima Creation Story
Prima on the other hand has a very different point of view on the creation of the world than Genesis.The Doctor of the Earth, Juhwertamahkai, is the only thing in the whole universe and he created everything that exists now. This creation story is very interesting because it raises the point that humans are no where near perfect or worthy of Earth/Nature. This is evident because Juhwertamahkai lets the sky fall four times to kill all the humans because of their defaults. This hints to the point that nature is something that needs to be respected and that only responsible "beings" are capable of managing it.- The Iroquois Creation Story
The Iroquois have a maternal based creation story. The world is created by twins which the female spirit bore. One twin is a good spirit and the other a bad spirit. They go into the worldand fill it with all the goods and evils of the world. The evils can be interpreted as obstacles or warnings put in place to stop the humans from exploiting the nature for its resources. The good creates everything that can be utilized for survival. Both spirits get into a rough fight with the good coming out victorious. However evil wasn't destroyed, it went into hiding. This foreshadows that one day when humans become out of control, evil will rise up again and create balance. This creation story supports the notion that nature is something that has to be dealt with cautiously and with care.Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather was a puritan, and one of the first writers to publish his works in english. His work was based on the corruption that nature and wilderness that influenced a very religious population. Cotton Mather, amongst many others, blamed the evil and mysteriousness of nature for unexplainable deaths and disasters. He wrote "the Wonders of an Invisible World" in defense of his witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. At the start of the book he states, "A people of God in the Devil's territories." This can be tied to nature in the sense of Nature vs. Wilderness and how one is viewed as good and the other as evil. A large
Crevecoeur: Letters From an American Farmer
It is made clear that Crevecoeur strongly believes that man and nature are equal and must work together to survive. It is made evident that Crevecoeur has a strong opinion on Nature and the role it plays in society. His publishings dealt with nature and society. Letters From an American Farmer is written from a farmers perspective on nature and how it helps him with his farming, but it does not just apply to farmers. Crevecoeur wrote this with the intension to
Jefferson's notes on Virginia
Thomas Jefferson based his opinion on nature off of how it can be used to build a new nation. His notes touch base on everything that makes up the society in Virginia and beyond it. He talks about everything that he is surrounded by and writes down multiple uses for that specific thing. For example, when Jefferson saw a river he saw a possible mode of transportation that would boost the New Worlds trade or take people on cross country travels. His 2nd Query talks about rives, their importance and various specific details on size. One thing can be understood fro sure from this Query and it is, rivers are the
future in commerce for that time era. He mentions that the Mississippi has perhaps alone will provide most of the transportation of this commerce, flowing all the way from the Ohio river down to the Mississippi delta in New Orleans. Here again we can see that Nature and man go hand in hand and the proper use of nature will be both profitable for man and mother-nature.
Query number 12 is about counties and townships. He says that America has no towns. "There are other places at which, like some of the foregoing, the laws have said there shall be towns; but nature has said there shall not, and they remain unworthy of enumeration." Dueto all the rivers that provide trade to be fairly easily delivered from place to place, townships were not needed. Therefore nature wont allow it.
Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America by Benjamin Franklin
In Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America by Benjamin Franklin, Franklin expresses his view on nature through social behavior and how to maximize production by using nature efficiently. He criticizes people for their misjudgment of different customs and rituals, calling them misinformed. Every society has some good and bad; polite and rude; clean and dirty. This concerns most Americans because at that time
I would tie this to nature with the same juxtaposition: civilized vs. savage as nature vs. wilderness. Often times wilderness is feared because it is usually unknown. An example of this would be the difference between a tamed cat versus a wild cat. People might be scared of a wild cat because they act differently than house cats. Wild cats can be very protective of their territories and shouldn't be messedwith. Whereas a house cat is very friendly and usually wont hurt humans. This fear is a lack of knowledge or prejudice people hold against other things that are new to them. Nature and wilderness carry the same background but have different ways of "acting". Both should be respected and taken care of so that in return Nature and Wilderness will benefit us forever.
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American writer of the early 19th century. He is best known for his stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hallow. Irving's mystic use of nature in both works bring a new edge to the table of Nature in American literature. In Rip Van Winkle there are a couple supernatural phenomenas, the Gnome and being able to sleep for 20 years. Nature is depicted as a magical area where strange this happen. This is apparent in the Legend of Sleepy Hallow, where nature radiates an eerie setting. There is a factor of "the unknown" that the setting sets off. Irving uses very descriptive and gloomy adjectives to create the scary setting.
- Rip Van Winkle
The story of Rip Van Winkle tells the tale of a man named Rip and his love for the forrest and nature. He lives in the colonial time before the American Revolutionary War, in New York. He has his own family consisting of a wife and children. Rip lives on a farm but he seldom takes care of it. He prefers to spend his days frolicking in thewoods and spending time with the children of the town. Rip is loved by all except for his wife who is strongly cross with him because he never does the work to support his family. One day Rip takes a long walk in the woods with his dog and crosses path with a gnome. This gnome- The Legend of Sleepy Hallow
This story is very well known and is still read in todays literature classes. It was even made into a Scooby-Doo episode, The Headless Horseman. Irving uses this Nature Vs. Mysticism theme again in this story with the use of a man who's head was replaced by a pumpkin. This taken to the next level in Scooby-Doo. The opening scene of the episode projects avery spooky ambience that mirrors Irving's writing. The mysticism is created by the fog that is almost always around whenever the gang is in trouble or in a scary scene. Again this mirrors Irving's mystic writing. However this mysticism is projected through nature. Nature being the gateway between supernatural and natural.Emerson Nature Essays
Emerson's essay nature projects his view on nature and man. His view on nature is very similar to that of Crevecoeur in the sense that both believed that nature should be respected and observed without man altering natures course, for good or bad. However Emerson had a very strong inner spiritual belief when it comes to understanding nature. The other big difference between himself and Crevecoeur is he writes from a poet's point of view, not a farmers. One of my favorite quotes from his essay is, "distinguished the stick of timber of the wood-cutter from the tree of the poet." This quote really gives a good sense of how Emerson views nature. He sees everything for what it really is, this is what makes his writing so true. I think Emerson's writing is very artsy. He uses a lot of figures of speech to make his pictures created by words very vivid in the readers mind. I believe that his way of writing about nature is the best way to write about it because nature is so
Huckleberry Finn
Nature plays a very important role in the adventures of Huck Finn. Huck and Jim's journey takes them down the Mississippi River flowing towards the southern
states. For them the river is the ultimate symbol of freedom and the raft forms some sort of sanctuary from the dangers of the outside world. Being a metaphor for freedom; in Jim'scase the raft is bringing him closer to his freedom from slavery, while on the other hand it is taking Huck farther away from his crazy father and civilized society. As thestory progresses it is made clear that the river and raft are no longer the perfect utopia that they imagined it as. This realization occurs when the dangers of nature and the outside world present themselves on the river, things like: fogcausing Huck and Jim to miss the mouth of the Ohio river which was their planned route, or the river overflowing causing them to run into criminals and ship wrecks. So now instead of being a safe zone, the river and raft become ways to escape from the dangers that are forced unto Huck and Jim. A great example of this is when Huck and Jim are separated from each other due to the intense fog and Huck's immature sense of humor. While Jim stays near the shore of the river, Huck is involved in a potentially fatal family feud on land. When Huck decides that he's had enough of the violence he runs away meeting up with Jim, and escapes on the raft. The river went from being a safe zone to being a source of risk that puts their lives in jeopardy, making almost no where a safe place for Jim and Huck. However, the raft still remains a reliable emergency escape when things get sticky on dry land. Without the help of nature, the river, Huck and Jim would have faced an impossible feat that would have certainly led to their capture and death.
Maggie: a Girl of the Streets
The Urban Wilderness that is represented in this book reflects on the society that Maggie struggles to live in. This society lacks a sense of morals, rules and hygiene, what we would consider to be the essentials for a prosperous community. The author of the book, Stephen Crane represents the New York that he grew up in, which was full of poverty stricken people, hypocrisy and corruption. Crane depicts a very harsh image in our minds right from the start of the book with a gang fight involving ten year olds. This takes place in what they call, the Rum Alley and Devils Row, which is the center of Wilderness in New York. These little kids are acting like wild beasts and are stoning each other, many of the fights end up in blood shed or loss of teeth. As time goes on the main character Jimmie and Maggie grow up and enter the adult world, which when juxtaposed with their childhood isn't too different. Jimmie's life takes a turn for the worse and views the world as if everyone hates him. He becomes a driver and transports goods for factories and food markets. This opens the door to a very intense and suspenseful life because he has to deal with the police on several occasions. Also, adding to the wilderness and danger of the urban city, Jimmie often times does not care for pedestrians and if they're in his way he wont hesitate to run them over. On the other hand, due to social circumstances and a lifetime of abuse is forced into a fake love with a man named Pete. Pete is the start of the end of Maggie's life. At home she is not loved and her drunk mother believes that she isn't earning enough money for the family. When she meets Pete she quickly latches on to the idea that Pete has money and he could possibly be her way out of poverty. Instead Pete soon betrays her and leaves her for another woman. Through out the book Maggie is told to go to hell by several people including Jimmie, her mother and Pete. Maggie has no where to go and ends up turning into a girl of the streets. While on the streets she encounters the true urban wilderness, forced to do disgusting and shameful things. The last time we hear of Maggie is while she is walking alone on the river bank and is followed by a fat disgusting man. We are not told directly that she meets her fate that night, but it is safe to assume so because the next time she is mentioned it talks about her death. All of this fits into Wilderness because of the danger aspect that the society poses, just like wild animals and nature pose dangers in nature wilderness. These two wilderness are not very different in the danger they pose, however the setting also creates a huge difference in the type of danger that it poses. The urban jungle is more of a social danger because you have to worry about other crazy people that might follow you home one night and stab you. This wilderness has a mystic feeling to it which creates a doubt in peoples minds while surrounded by any type of wilderness. New York city is a perfect example of Urban Wilderness, and the society that encompasses it is a perfect concoction for disaster.
The World Fair 1893
The Chicago world fair of 1893 was a modern marvel of its time, it surpassed the preceding world fair in france in size, beauty and technological mechanisms. Holmstead, the designer of the park and its buildings, defied nature by building all of these grand constructions in such a limited time. Taking into account the land that the fair was built on, a swamp, the foundation for all of the building were not ideal at all and put everything in jeopardy of collapsing. However, Holmstead managed to create a peaceful and beautiful setting with lagoons, trees and the Michigan Lake right beside it. The Urban Wilderness can be seen in the fair itself by all the crude entertainment, the beer halls, exotic dancing, drugs and the whole carnival feeling to it. At the time Chicago was the center of money making and corruption and the main source of profit were the sexual and drug
The Great Gatsby
This novel revolves around social injustices and peoples lack of morality in contrast to Nick's view on the world. Nick, the main protagonist, is surrounded by a very different environment than hes used to. The people who live near Nick lack in several of the qualities that he values
quite highly. In a way he is trapped in a social wilderness, a collective pit of social injustice and dishonorable people. Nick being from the mid-west feels uncomfortable and out of place living in the extravagant east coast. Usually Wilderness is seen as a tropical forrest or something that hasn't been touched by mankind. A sense of fear and confusion is tied to the wilderness' identity and this carries on into Great Gatsby. Through this Social Wilderness that is created by Nick's perfectly unbiased judgment, fear and confusion eventually force him to leave West egg and return home; his comfort zone. The valley of ashes and East/West Eggs islands are important places that symbolizethe creation and solution of all the injustices that occur throughout the novel. The Valley of ashes is the breeding ground for immorality, where things like Daisy killing her husbands lover, a night of binge drinking, or where Tom goes to take care of his affaires with other women. On the other hand, West and East egg act as a sanctuary for all the rich people that instigate or even commit the crimes. On the Egg islands the endless amount of money acts as a cushion, shielding the rich people from ever getting into trouble. Of course the worst thing that came of the Valley of ashes was the innocent death of Gatsby. This was the last straw for Nick and when he had enough of all the immoralities and backstabbing people he finally decided to leave. Sometimes Wilderness can be found in other places rather than just in nature.
Koyaanisqatsi
This movies attempts to reveal the truth behind the artificial world that we live in. Our world has become highly dependent on technology which creates a layer of commodities that blocks out nature. Each new scene in the movie unfolded a new truth and revealed a new perspective on every day commodities. However, it shows that everything that makes life better and easier is actually pulling our society
.